Nicholas (Comic Series)
Nicholas is a character and a former antagonist first encountered in Issue 71 of Image Comics' The Walking Dead. He is a resident of the Alexandria Safe-Zone, alongside his son, Mikey, and wife, Paula. Following the herd invasion, he wants to strip Rick Grimes of his leadership position, before defecting from that plan and aiding Rick in the war against the Saviors, where he was killed, having sacrificed himself to save Rick. He served as the primary antagonist of Volume 15: We Find Ourselves. Pre-Apocalypse Location Unknown Almost nothing is known about Nicholas' life before or as the outbreak began, besides that he was married to Paula and had a son with her, Mikey. It is possible he lived in or near Washington, D.C. When apologizing to Rick after his failed coup attempt, he mentions that he was a failure in the world before, but does not elaborate. Post-Apocalypse At some point, Nicholas and his family arrived to the Alexandria Safe-Zone. Life Among Them He is first seen approaching Rick Grimes to complain about a fight between his son and Rick's son, Carl, saying that the former's son was pushed. However, after Rick explains what really happened and says it's just "boys being boys". Nicholas calms down, but is shocked to hear that Rick gave Carl a gun. He begins to complain to Douglas Monroe about the gun, but Douglas is able to calm the situation by explaining that they will be storing all guns in the armory and that he was unaware Carl had possession of a gun as well. Even though he listens to Douglas, Nicholas still shows some uneasiness about Rick and Carl. Later on, Nicholas attends the welcome party for Rick and the others and apologizes to Rick for his earlier aggression towards him. Rick accepts, but their conversation is interrupted by Nicholas's friend, Peter Anderson. Nicholas keeps to himself well into the winter months and is absent from the funerals for Scott, Peter, and Regina Monroe. No Way Out As the roamers around Alexandria begin to grow in numbers, Nicholas and his son, Mikey, join a crowd in front of Rick's home. Nicholas, becoming increasingly angry, begins to shout at Rick, asking what he is going to do about the problem. After Rick calms everyone down, Nicholas heads home with his son to prepare for the worst. Once the wall in front of the zone breaks, Nicholas leaves his house to help Abraham Ford clear the roamers as they flood the zone. After the roamers gather up, Nicholas and Eugene Porter retreat into Father Gabriel Stokes's church. He later leaves the church after Carl Grimes is shot and helps to wipe out the remaining roamers in the zone and participates in the clean up after. He is last seen attending the funeral for those lost during the chaos. We Find Ourselves After the chaos, Nicholas becomes a part of Rick's new construction crew and helps to scout the nearby area. Over time Nicholas becomes disgruntled and aggravated at the change in leadership after Douglas Monroe's death during the invasion of the walkers. He begins to get into arguments with Heath about Rick's sanity. Finally, while Rick is out on a supply run, Nicholas, Olivia, and Spencer Monroe begin a riot while on construction duty. Glenn overhears them and as the group, in particular Nicholas, decides to target Glenn in order to keep their plans of otherthrowing Rick from being revealed, Glenn pulls a gun on Nicholas in defense, prompting Nicholas to disarm him and beat him on the ground. Glenn kicks Nicholas off him and runs home with Nicholas's rioters following behind him. Heath tries to stop him as a crowd gathers around Glenn's house. Nicholas is about to shoot Glenn as Rick arrives demanding answers. Nicholas backs down almost immediately and Rick tells him to go home to his family, though Rick would reveal that he had desired to end Nicholas' life. Later that afternoon, Nicholas finds Rick and apologizes for his actions. A Larger World During this time, Nicholas becomes less disgruntled and develops a respect for Rick as Alexandria's new leader, slowly joining Rick's inner circle. Something To Fear Nicholas helps Rick carry supplies into the Alexandria when he returns from the Hilltop. He is present at Abraham's funeral with his wife Paula and Mikey next to him. The next morning he helps Rick pack for his trip to the Hilltop and helps watch the front gate as he leaves. After Glenn is killed by the leader of a hostile group calling themselves the Saviors, Rick arrives back at Alexandria. He is greeted by Nicholas holding a rifle. Nicholas informs Rick that the Saviors attacked while he was gone and helps him get through the broken gate. What Comes After The next day, Nicholas is presumably at the town meeting when Rick decides to supply the Saviors. A day or two after Negan leaves, Nicholas helps Rick, Andrea, and Michonne look for Carl outside the fences. While they search they are attacked by a herd of roamers, but are able to fight them off. March To War During one of the Savior supply trips to Alexandria, Nicholas, Rick, Heath, and Holly attempt to kill Negan. They manage to kill two of his men, with aid from Andrea; however, a hidden group of about 30 Saviors ambush the group and shoot the guns out of their hands. Nicholas is shot in the arm and is lined up by Negan to be executed by his bat, unless the remaining citizens of Alexandria throw Carl over the wall. The citizens refuse his demands and he turns his attention to Rick. Nicholas interrupts and attempts to plead for his life. This only angers Negan, who says that if either Rick, Holly or Heath tell him to kill Nicholas he will do so and spare their lives. In response Heath tells him Nicholas is just scared. Negan proceeds with the execution and starts singing to select his victim, however unknown to Negan and his men Paul Monroe sneaks up behind them. Paul grabs a Savior and uses him as a body shield against incoming fire. He then orders Nicholas and the others into the trench, while he fights of fthe Saviors. Nicholas is later seen with his arm in a sling and standing with his family as Jesus and Ezekiel talk and load the trucks for the upcoming war. Nicholas and his family stay in Alexandria, due to his injury. All Out War - Part One After Rick and others return from the successful attack on a Savior outpost, Nicholas is seen at a meeting where the group discusses what to do next. Nicholas takes cover as Negan attacks the Safe-Zone and begins lobbing grenades. All Out War - Part Two In the aftermath of the attack on the Safe Zone, Nicholas tells Rick that he is moving to the Hilltop with his family. Rick assures him that he wouldn't force anyone to stay, and that they are all leaving. Nicholas leaves for the Hilltop with the rest of the group. Soon after this, Negan attacks the Hilltop with the Saviors. Nicholas participates in the battle and defends the Hilltop. Later, Rick takes him and Aaron to help corner the saviors. In Issue 124, he tries to help Rick, after the latter's injury from Dwight's arrow. However he is attacked by a Savior with a walker-blood-infected knife and slashed in the back. He is later seen with Paula, suffering from a severe fever and succumbing to the effects of the wound. Death ;Killed By *Negan (Caused) *The Saviors (Caused) During the Saviors' attack on the Hilltop, Nicholas is cut in the back by a Saviors' tainted machete. Several hours later, a bedridden Nicholas says goodbye to his family and then succumbs to the infection. *Unnamed survivor (Before Reanimation, Off-Panel) After Nicholas passes away, Dr. Harlan Carson orders an unknown survivor to stab Nicholas in the head to prevent reanimation. Killed Victims This list shows the victims Nicholas has killed: *Multiple unnamed Saviors (Alongside his fellow survivors) *Numerous counts of zombies Relationships Paula and Nicholas are married, with a child. Even though they love each other deeply, they are hardly seen together, and Paula is only seen on few occasions. In Issue 90, Nicholas confronts Rick and thanks him for saving his family, Nicholas states he went home, seen his family and tells Rick he loves them deeply. The only confirmed times the two are seen together are at Abraham's funeral in Issue 99 with their child, Mikey, between them as well as in Nicholas' final moments alive. After Alexandria is blown apart Nicholas tells Rick that he is leaving for both Paula and Mikey again showing how much he cares about the both of them. Mikey Nicholas and Mikey have a good father-son bond, Nicholas defended Mikey in his argument against Carl and when Mikey was proven to be the one at fault Nicholas didn't punish him. Also after Nicholas' failed attempt of taking over Alexandria Safe Zone and Rick spared his life, Nicholas told Rick he went home, saw his family and tells Rick he loves them deeply. Mikey is deeply hardened by his father's death and overtime comes to honor him by following his father's footsteps. Olivia Not much interaction was shown between the two but it is assumed they have a stable friendship; this is shown when Nicholas attempts to convince Olivia to join him in removing Rick from leadership of the Alexandria Safe-Zone. Peter Anderson Pete and Nicholas seemed to be good friends; this is shown by their interactions towards each other at Douglas's house party. Nicholas was angered by Pete's death, and wanted to lead a revolt against Rick. It's unknown if he knew about Pete's abusive behavior or if he simply didn't care. Rick Grimes Rick met Nicholas shortly after moving into the Safe Zone. They initially met when Nicholas approached him about a fight between his son, Mikey, and Carl, but they soon resolved the issue and were later seen talking at the party. However, in Issue 88, during the cleanup of the Herd's attack on the Safe Zone, Nicholas came to hold Rick responsible for the Safe Zone's recent misfortunes: the deaths of Pete and Regina, the attack by the Scavengers, and the aforementioned herd that swept through and caused several more deaths. Fearing that Rick was going to get them all killed, he attempted to lead a revolt against him. Rick was later able to talk him down before anyone was hurt, and both had since reconciled. Nicholas later participated in several of Rick's meetings and helped Rick in the initial search for Carl once he disappeared from the Safe-Zone. During the war when Rick is wounded Nicholas took Rick back inside to get patched up. Spencer Monroe Spencer and Nicholas seem to have a stable relationship. Spencer went along with Nicholas' plan to kill Rick's group, but became much more reluctant when Nicholas beat Glenn and threatened his family. Douglas Monroe Douglas and Nicholas seemed to have a stable relationship, and Nicholas seemed to possess great respect for Douglas and his position as the leader of the Safe-Zone. Heath Heath challenged Nicholas' planned uprising against Rick. Although they were rarely seen interacting since, it can be assumed that Nicholas and Heath had stabilized their relationship, as Heath justified Nicholas' selfish attempt to get his life spared while being lined up together with him by Negan in Issue 114.}} Appearances Trivia *Up until his death, Nicholas's family had been the longest-lasting family or group to have all known members alive. *Paula revealed Nicholas was the one who escorted his family to Alexandria. Category:Comics Category:Alexandria Safe-Zone Category:Deceased Category:The Militia Category:Reformed Category:Antagonists